What was Bessie's 'little weakness' ?
贝茜的"小弱点"是什么？
It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago.
这是一件好事我姨妈哈丽特几年前去世了。
If she were alive today
如果她今天还活着
she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation: domestic servants.
她将无法就她最喜欢的话题--家庭佣人--发表自己的看法。
Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age when servants were employed to do housework.
哈丽特姨妈生活在那个悠闲的年代,那时佣人受雇做家务.
She had a huge, rambling country house called 'The Gables'.
她有一个巨大的，散漫的乡间别墅，叫做"山墙"。
She was sentimentally attached to this house,
她对这所房子很有感情,
for even though it was far too big for her needs, she persisted in living there long after her husband's death.
因为尽管它太大了，不能满足她的需要，但她在丈夫去世后很久就坚持住在那里。
Before she grew old, aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly.
在她变老之前,哈丽特姨妈经常奢侈地娱乐.
I often visited The Gables when I was a boy.
我小时候经常去山墙。
No matter how many guests were present, the great house was always immaculate.
无论有多少客人在场，大房子总是完美无瑕。
The parquet floors shone like mirrors;
镶木地板像镜子一样闪闪发光;
highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets;
闪闪发光的玻璃柜里陈列着高度抛光的银色;
even my uncle's huge collection of books was kept miraculously free from dust.
即使是我叔叔的大量藏书也奇迹般地没有灰尘。
Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants that continuously scrubbed, cleaned, and polished.
哈丽特姨妈主持着一支看不见的仆人大军，他们不断地擦洗、清洁和抛光。
She always referred to them as 'the shifting population',
她总是把他们称为"人口流动",
for they came and went with such frequency that I never even got a chance to learn their names.
因为他们来来去去的频率如此之高，我甚至没有机会知道他们的名字。
Though my aunt pursued what was, in those days an enlightened policy,
虽然我姑妈追求的是什么，在那些日子里开明的政策,
in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day, she was extremely difficult to please.
由于她从不允许她的家庭工作人员每天工作超过八个小时，她非常难以取悦。
While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature,
虽然她总是批评人性的善变,
she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant to the end of her days,
她坚持不懈地寻找理想的仆人，直到她的日子结束,
even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie.
即使在她被贝茜伤心地幻灭之后。
Bessie worked for aunt Harriet for three years.
贝茜为哈丽特姨妈工作了三年。
During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence, that she was put in charge of the domestic staff.
在那段时间里，她得到了我姑妈的信任，她被安排负责家务。
Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency.
哈丽特姨妈找不到词来赞扬贝茜的勤劳和效率.
In addition to all her other qualifications, Bessie was an expert cook.
除了她所有的其他资格，贝茜是一个专家厨师。
She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'.
在哈丽特姨妈发现她的"小弱点"之前，她扮演了完美仆人的角色三年。
After being absent from The Gables for a week,
在山墙缺席一个星期后,
my aunt unexpectedly returned one afternoon with a party of guests and instructed Bessie to prepare dinner.
一天下午，姑姑意外地带着一行客人回来，吩咐贝茜准备晚餐。
Not only was the meal well below the usual standard, but Bessie seemed unable to walk steadily.
这顿饭不仅远低于通常的标准，而且贝茜似乎也走不动了。
She bumped into the furniture and kept mumbling about the guests.
她撞到家具上，不停地喃喃地说着客人。
When she came in with the last course--a huge pudding--she tripped on the carpet
当她带着最后一道菜-一个巨大的布丁-进来时，她在地毯上绊倒了
and the pudding went flying through the air, narrowly missed my aunt, and crashed on the dining table with considerable force.
布丁在空中飞来飞去，险些错过了我的姑姑，用相当大的力量撞在了餐桌上。
Though this caused great mirth among the guests, Aunt Harriet was horrified.
虽然这在客人中引起了极大的欢乐，但哈丽特姨妈吓坏了。
She reluctantly came to the conclusion that Bessie was drunk.
她不情愿地得出贝茜喝醉了的结论.
The guests had, of course, realized this from the moment Bessie opened the door for them and, long before the final catastrophe,
当然，从贝茜为他们开门的那一刻起，客人们就意识到了这一点，而且在最后的灾难发生之前很久,
had had a difficult time trying to conceal their amusement.
曾有一段艰难的时间试图掩盖他们的娱乐。
The poor girl was dismissed instantly.
这个可怜的女孩立刻被解雇了.
After her departure, Aunt Harriet discovered
她离开后，哈丽特姨妈发现
that there were piles of empty wine bottles of all shapes and sizes neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe.
在贝茜的衣柜里，整齐地堆放着成堆的各种形状和大小的空酒瓶。
They had mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar!
他们神秘地从酒窖里找到了去那里的路!
